I've never tasted any "gamey" taste in deer meat either.. on the other hand I have in duck meat before... to cure that i just soak it in Coke a cola for a couple hours in the fridge... problem solved!!!

I do too. Sending a deer to a processor is just BEGGING for bad end product and just plain lazy in my opinion. Cutting it up yourself is just part of the hunting process. Venison fat does not render like beef fat and gives the meat a rancid or gamey taste. You have to separate the muscles and can't just cut it into conventional "cuts" like beef and get the best result.

if you are doing it yourself make sure you let it age in the cooler on ice or walk in cooler for about 4 or 5 days. Also, once you get some steaks cut up dont be afraid of some marinade for two days and then season it grill it and should be delicious.

What gamey taste? I do the cooler thing and have for decades. I've never had a deer taste "gamey". I also throw my bucks and does in the freezer together. Not marked. I defy anyone to tell me which theyre eating. I guess if you know it's a doe you can swear it's better, but I think it's a mental thing. Take care of the meat and it all eats. I usually have at least one ol geezer in the freezer every year and they are some fine eating.

If you're grilling it, the main thing you can do to ruin it is to overcook it. Like dove, if you overcook them, they taste like liver. If you overcook venison, the quality goes way down. When I gill venison, I usually wrap it in bacon for moisture and cook it medium rare, absolutely no more than medium.

Like others said, leave it in the ice chest for a few days adding more ice and draining frequently. If you have access to a walk in freezer, make sure to quarter and hang for at least a week to 10 days before you process it.

Like others said, leave it in the ice chest for a few days adding more ice and draining frequently. If you have access to a walk in freezer, make sure to quarter and hang for at least a week to 10 days before you process it.

I love the flavor of vennison. One thing that makes vennison taste bad is the fat and connective tissue. In pork, you want to leave that on, in vennison, you want to remove as much as possible. The other key is to cool the deer as soon as possible. I also wash meer before putting in the cooler. Some will tell you that is not a good idea as it promotes bacteria. However, I feel the meat will get wet in the cooler anyway. By washing it, I eliminate hair and dirt from the meat. Before butchering and packaging, I will also use a hand torch to burn off any hair I have missed. Good luck.

First let your meat sit in the cooler over ice draining the bloody water and adding fresh ice for 3-5 days, this will bleed it out. After that no gamey taste IMO.....tasty!

Second this quote,
I make my own ice, we eat a lot of ice cream, so the 1 gallon plastic buckets come in handy. Change the water daily. I also clean the meat daily cutting away all the viscus, fat and damaged bloody parts of meat. In 5-7 days time your meat will be white and taste awesome!

Get to it quick as possible- get the guts out- get it cooled down and leave it cooled for a few days before freezing or processing. I dont liike mine sitting in water so i put it in an icechest with the drain open for a few days.

First and foremost, make a clean kill! An animal that is severely stressed, chased or pushed will have a stronger flavor. If it was pushed, let it lay for 1 hour before gutting and cleaning.

If it was a clean kill, gut it immediately and get some bags of ice in the body cavity, or do a non-gutting skinning/quartering job, BUT DO NOT WASH THE MEAT!

Place the meat in trash bags or ziplocks without washing it. Now if you are going to process the meat or eat it all right away, go ahead and rinse it off. If not, DON"T WASH OFF THE MEAT. You can wipe it off with a rag or paper towel if it makes you feel better .

I used to do the cooler deal but once I discovered this method, I could not taste the difference anymore, so it basically became a waste of time and ice.

I would highly reccommend a vaccuum sealer. They are cheap now and there is even a $10.00 thingy that works with special ziplock bags (and it works pretty well!).

Label and date the packages.

Now here's the deal...The reason not to get the meat wet is to avoid and prevent freezer burn. Once you add moisture to the meat and then freeze it, the chance if it freezer burning goes up 10-Fold.

I just take a package from the freezer, let it thaw, THEN I rinse it off!

This next step is not necessary, but it will help tenderize a bit; I also let the meat age in the fridge for a few days prior to cooking. I like variety so sometimes I'll just eat it straight, sometimes I'll marinade it, sometimes I'll soak it in milk (this really helps when you Chicken-Fry because the outside of the meat will hold the batter much better).

THEN, the main thing to remember (as mentioned above) is to cook it to RARE or MEDIUM RARE and no further! I know...it wild game so you have to cook it a lot...WRONG! You will actually cook the gamey taste into it!
Don't believe me, do a side-by-side comparison and then tell me you can't taste the difference .

I shot an old doe last year that was carrying and she had a definate stronger taste that the younger doe I shot earlier that year. Both were processed by me and taken care of properly. I think the older deer just have a much stronger taste, or some say gamey. I combat this stronger taste by soaking in westchester sauce overnight and then grilling.

What gamey taste? I do the cooler thing and have for decades. I've never had a deer taste "gamey". I also throw my bucks and does in the freezer together. Not marked. I defy anyone to tell me which theyre eating. I guess if you know it's a doe you can swear it's better, but I think it's a mental thing. Take care of the meat and it all eats. I usually have at least one ol geezer in the freezer every year and they are some fine eating.

If you're grilling it, the main thing you can do to ruin it is to overcook it. Like dove, if you overcook them, they taste like liver. If you overcook venison, the quality goes way down. When I gill venison, I usually wrap it in bacon for moisture and cook it medium rare, absolutely no more than medium.

What Doc said...

Plus, all red meat must be aged to be falvorful. Most beef you buy has been aged for at least 2 weeks, and drowning it in water/ice is not aging, that's bleaching. I get my deer skinned/quartered as soon as possible, but what I do that is different than what most have posted here is that I put my meat in plastic water tight bags. When you skin the animal, it is by nature clean. When you put water/ice on it, that's where unclean bacteria can be introduced to the meat. I don't keep any traumitized areas of the meat. I pack the bags in ice in a cooler for at least 10 days to 2 weeks. This gives the meat proper flavor, AND aged venison is never tough. I use venison just like I would beef. we grill it, chicken fry it, and even make burgers out of the ground meat that you absolutely will get none of that "wild" taste. I take apart the muscles of the hind quarters to remove lymph nodes and all the connective tissue I can, then vacuum seal it and freeze it. There's not a better meat on the planet if it is cared for properly During the packaging process, I do not put any water on the meat. If it is taken care of properly, and skinned properly, the meat is perfectly clean naturally. Water only polutes it.

Like Doc said, medium to rare is the best for grillin' and burgers are the same way. On my hamberger, I do add about 20% beef tallow to the meat when grinding, and it's as good or even better than a beef burger. Y'all just try keeping the meat clean and dry on ice for 10 days once, and you'll never do it any other way, I promise. There have been many folks ate at my table that "don't like deer meat" that never knew they were eating something wild and just bragged on how good the steak, or lasagna, or stew, or chili, or whatever was...

after harvesting soak in ice water for 48 hours, changing the water a couple times a day, if you want it less gamey. I do this with large boars, and not a lot of people know its a boar anymore. I like deer the way it is.

If you're grilling it, the main thing you can do to ruin it is to overcook it. Like dove, if you overcook them, they taste like liver. If you overcook venison, the quality goes way down. When I gill venison, I usually wrap it in bacon for moisture and cook it medium rare, absolutely no more than medium.

You are SO right. A venison steak should leave juices on your plate. If you don't see at least a little pink in the middle, it's overcooked.

Personally, I don't wash venison until right before I cut it up and freeze it. I'm not so much against it, just don't see the need in it. I place the quarters in 2 gallon ziplock bags that go into an ice chest until I get home. They don't come in contact with dirt and, if they have a hair or two stuck to the outside, I can't see how that could possibly hurt anything. Ditto on blood. A little blood on the outside of the quarters can do nothing but protect the meat inside. I would much rather the meat be in contact with blood than water. The first thing you're going to do is trim the outside off anyway. As long as everything remains below 40 degrees, there's no problem. The main thing is to get the meat cooled down as quickly as possible and keep it there.

Plus, all red meat must be aged to be falvorful. Most beef you buy has been aged for at least 2 weeks, and drowning it in water/ice is not aging, that's bleaching. I get my deer skinned/quartered as soon as possible, but what I do that is different than what most have posted here is that I put my meat in plastic water tight bags. When you skin the animal, it is by nature clean. When you put water/ice on it, that's where unclean bacteria can be introduced to the meat. I don't keep any traumitized areas of the meat. I pack the bags in ice in a cooler for at least 10 days to 2 weeks. This gives the meat proper flavor, AND aged venison is never tough. I use venison just like I would beef. we grill it, chicken fry it, and even make burgers out of the ground meat that you absolutely will get none of that "wild" taste. I take apart the muscles of the hind quarters to remove lymph nodes and all the connective tissue I can, then vacuum seal it and freeze it. There's not a better meat on the planet if it is cared for properly During the packaging process, I do not put any water on the meat. If it is taken care of properly, and skinned properly, the meat is perfectly clean naturally. Water only polutes it.

Like Doc said, medium to rare is the best for grillin' and burgers are the same way. On my hamberger, I do add about 20% beef tallow to the meat when grinding, and it's as good or even better than a beef burger. Y'all just try keeping the meat clean and dry on ice for 10 days once, and you'll never do it any other way, I promise. There have been many folks ate at my table that "don't like deer meat" that never knew they were eating something wild and just bragged on how good the steak, or lasagna, or stew, or chili, or whatever was...

I find myself agreeing with this post depsite the fact that I typically do not agree with SaltwaterSlick! Aging the deer in bags then in ice is the way to go. I would recommend against leaving the meat in ice without bagging it... If you think that your deer meat should be as white as pork then go ahead and place it into ice with the bags.

First let your meat sit in the cooler over ice draining the bloody water and adding fresh ice for 3-5 days, this will bleed it out. After that no gamey taste IMO.....tasty!

not just that but get to the deer and break it down asap. It's too warm for a deer to stew for too long. Honestly i let my deer sit in ice for a few days draining the water and I've never ever had bad meat.

Process it yourself, just make sure and take the time to cut the connective tissue off before you package it. I have never had the so called wild taste in the meat. I hear alot of comments about letting it age in a cooler on ice for several days. Alot of people swear by it.

JPBruni...question here. Are you talking about quarters and no ice or water?

My reasoning here is, I leave the quarters intact and all 4 pieces get the rinse and soak in ice. After several days of the usual drain, ice and age routine the 4 quarters are then pulled and the processing begins. The silver lining surrounding the shoulders and hams shield the meat from water intrusion and I simply cut away any white areas and simply focus on red.

Water can only penetrate so far into the meat and quarters, left as is with membrane shield are pretty secure from water intrusion. I agree, if I mix water into the meat after I bone and do the other work...it's an issue.

I towel each quarter down when pulled from ice till they are simply cool and then start the butchering necessary to finish the job.

Straps, tenders and any trim meat that is cut away during the field to age stage (exposed meat) gets placed in plastic bags only to seperate the water from the meat but once I'm home, it comes off ice and out of the bag and into the fridge. I don't like exposed meat in a blood soak.